We're Getting Married!!!!

Where to begin… A LONG TIME AGO…. IN A DISTANT GALAXY??? Ummmmmm… No, it was more like IN A FROZEN TUNDRA ALSO KNOWN AS THE MIDWEST! On January 30th, 2019 I didn’t know it but that would be the day that the Lord would bring Luke Christopher Allinger into my life. It was on the coldest day of the year. It was -30 degrees and I have to say I was not in the best mood. ;-) I had come to Kansas City, MO to represent for Biblical Ministries Worldwide and Commission On Compassion at Calvary University’s Missions Conference. I didn’t really want to come and I was totally complaining to my mom when I got to the airport. “I don’t know why I am here. It is cold and I have heard that this isn’t the best missions conference.” I know… LOUSY ATTITUDE! My parents and I were both representing at the conference but on Wednesday they had to go to another college to represent so I decided to hang out with my friend’s Joel and Sarah who are fellow BMW Missionaries. I remember we were all in the chapel waiting for the morning prayer meeting to start when this guy came up and said good morning to Joel and Sarah. He then introduced himself as Luke Allinger. I noticed his name tag had BMW on it and I thought it was cool that more people were representing BMW there. He got up and spoke about the ministry that he was involved in during chapel but honestly the only things I remember were that he was serving in Utah and that he was an Alumni of Calvary.

Later on that day I was hanging out at the BMW table, waiting for my parents to get back with my lunch when Luke came up and asked me how I got involved with the deaf-blind ministry at COC. Turns out he had been at Frontier when Jim and Joan Hansen were also there and he had talked to them for a bit. I shared my side of how God got me to COC and then asked him how God got him to Utah. I remember it being beyond easy to talk to him and I also thought that he was pretty cool but I was not looking for a relationship… I was, however, looking for a friendship but because of being hurt in the past I was unsure that it would be possible. I wasn’t thinking I would talk to him again. While we were talking, my parents came back and I know they were watching the whole conversation happen which was exactly what I was afraid of. That afternoon before dinner, my parents and I were driving to a store when my mom asked, “So who was that guy you were talking to earlier?” I immediately went “MOTHER…. His name is Luke and he is a BMW missionary in Utah.” (INSERT EYE ROLL) She then went on to ask if I enjoyed talking to him, to which I answered yes and gave another eye roll. She asked if I was planning to talk to him again and I said, “Maybe…but I don’t know if I will see him again.” It was the last evening of the conference and I knew many missionaries were leaving the next day. I didn’t talk to him again while at Calvary but I did ask him to be my friend on Facebook.

Then right before I flew back to LA my mom, who is very discerning and prays a lot for me, asked me if I was planning on contacting Luke when I got back to LA. I told her I had no idea. I was not looking for anything more than a friendship and my walls were high… but she told me that she thought it would be a good idea… not because I should try to force a friendship but to just see if a friendship would form. “He is a fellow BMW missionary and he is from Utah and probably knows a lot of the same people you do from Frontier.” I started praying and seeking God’s leading to know if I should even write to him. I didn’t want to force a friendship with anyone and I didn’t want him to think that I was interested in more or trying to force that too. I prayed for a week and the Lord gave peace so I wrote, “ Hi Luke, It was great to meet you at Calvary last week. Thanks for reminding me about some BMW things I needed to do. Praying for you and the ministries there in Utah.” I figured that was not pushy and wouldn’t seem to be crazy. A day went by and then suddenly I had a message… and it was from him. He asked me to pray about some ministries that he was involved with and then he asked me how he could be praying for me. I was in shock… so many times I have told friends, including guys, that I am praying for them but they never asked how they could be praying for me specifically. I decided to just be myself and share about some of the struggles I was having with starting a new semester and how I didn’t know what the Lord was doing but I was trusting and waiting. I figured I had nothing to lose and if he didn’t respond I was ok with that too. To my shock, he said he would be praying and that is truly how our friendship started. We sent prayer requests back and forth via Facebook Messenger for the first few weeks. This is one of my favorite things because we weren’t focused on physical attraction. We were simply praying for each other as coworkers in the ministry.

It was around March 1st when I started to notice that I had more feelings for him than just a friendship and this honestly scared me because our friendship was growing and it was great! It was also then that I felt the peace of God start to work and I knew that if this was something God was doing, it would happen. I wasn’t going to push it though. I didn’t say anything to Luke, but I did start to pray for the Lord to clearly show us if this was to grow to something more. On March 5th Luke asked me if we could talk over the phone. This was a big deal and I wasn’t sure how it would go but I was excited to see what God did. That conversation made me so thankful for Luke and for what the Lord was doing. He was straight to the point. He didn’t just lead me on like many guys from our generation tend to do. He shared how he knew we both had feelings but that he hated long-distance relationships and that he wasn’t planning to leave Utah. Basically, we didn't know how this could possibly work… but God did. :-) I told him that I understood and I was also unsure of the long-distance relationship. I told him that since I was 14 I had told the Lord that I would go wherever He called and while I wasn’t looking to leave Commission on Compassion if that is what the Lord wanted I was willing. We decided to take things slow and continue to talk via Facebook messenger… and at the end of the 1 ½ hour phone call, we also decided we might talk over the phone every so often. Well, what started as calling every few weeks quickly became every week and then every day.

Our conversations also continued to get deeper and longer. On May 31st, 2019 Luke drove out to LA and we went on our first date to Point Dume State Beach and he asked me to be his official girlfriend. That weekend was so much fun as we got to actually hang out together and see if we were comfortable with being face to face and not just via the phone. We went on a hike and also got to spend Sunday worshiping together at Grace Community Church and Grace Bible Deaf Church. When he left that Sunday I remember being surprised at how sad I felt and I knew this was turning into something good… but it needed more time to grow and that is what dating is for. :-) Over the summer we were able to see how we both had a serious passion for ministry and how we handled ourselves during challenges as Luke served at Pioneer Bible Camp and I served here at Commission On Compassion. While we weren’t able to talk every night for three weeks while Luke was at camp, I found myself missing him more than I would have imagined and it was also during that time that I realized that I truly loved him and the fact that we could possibly serve together in ministry in the future was exciting. Getting letters from him and our weekend conversations became something I cherished and counted down the hours too. It was also during the summer that we both said “I Love You” and I knew it was true. In July and August we were able to spend two weeks together with our families and I can’t explain it exactly but at the end of that trip as I left to drive the 9 hours home from Utah, I had a peace that Luke was the man the Lord had chosen for me to serve in ministry with. It was crazy but I absolutely loved the fact that what started as a simple friendship between two BMW missionaries who were praying for each other turned into the godly relationship I had been praying for years that the Lord would bring into my life.

This fall we were blessed to be able to see each other every 3 weeks or so and I know this helped to confirm things in my heart even more. We did talk about taking the next step in our relationship and that we both agreed that that next step would be to get engaged. We started to pray the Lord would make it clear to both of us about where we would end up in ministry. The Lord has shown me and Luke the need for reaching the people in Utah… especially the unreached deaf that have no gospel witness happening in sign language. The more I learned about the need the more the Lord tugged at my heart with the desire to reach them and also serve alongside Luke with the ministries he is involved with. Luke has been my rock through this entire relationship and when I have grown impatient or start to overthink things he reminds me that “I don’t have to worry about those things right now.” In October he told me that even though we are planning to get engaged it was better to wait a while because we had to wait until I am done with school next semester anyway. I agreed and told him that I was not going to put any pressure on him to do it at any specific time. I figured it was going to be over Christmas as I am going to Provo and going to be with his family but had no expectations.

On Nov. 25th Luke came to Commission On Compassion to spend Thanksgiving with me and my parents. That morning was crazy. I was so excited to see him that I didn’t sleep much the night before but I woke up completely energized. We talked for a few hours as he drove and then I headed to school with my dad. I had a presentation and an assessment so my focus was all over the place. Luke told me that he wanted to go to Point Dume with me and my parents. It was like our first date. He got here about 1 pm and after eating lunch we all got into his car and drove to the beach. It was a beautiful sunny day and we went down to the water to enjoy the view. While I had thought a while back that this would be a neat time to get engaged, the Lord had allowed me to put it out of my mind and I just wanted to enjoy the time I had with him. It had been 6 weeks since we saw each other and I was thankful that we had this time. After a minute or two, he said, “Why don’t we go up to the top of the Dume, (the place where he asked me to date him) and then we can come back and spend the rest of the time on the sand.” I agreed and we started to hike up to the Dume. Luke asked my parents if they wanted to come and they said yes. I was excited that we were all going up together as they had never come up before. Luke and I went ahead of my parents and when we got to the top Luke pointed out a small rock where we could stand and watch the waves. When we got there, I was enjoying the waves when Luke said, “So Hannah…( and as I turned to look at him I saw him get down on one knee and take a box out of his pocket) Will You Marry Me?” In classic Hannah form, I said, “NOW???” (Remember I thought it would be Christmas!) To which he graciously said, “Yes… Now!” At that moment I don’t remember much except for saying, “Yes!” and then having Luke put the amazing ring that he had picked out onto my finger. I think I just hugged him and stared at the ring for about 5 minutes. BEST DAY OF MY LIFE!!!!!

To say that this relationship has been crazy is an understatement but the fact that God has so clearly worked in both of our lives is something we can never deny! I am so excited to marry my best friend and to do life and ministry together. God will show us each step and to walk by his side through it all will be the biggest blessing. I love you more than words can explain, Luke Allinger and I can’t wait to be your wife! Forever and ALWAYS!!! Love, YOUR GIRL \Xn/

Luke's side of the story I was done with long distance. I would rather be single and lonely than to have to build a long-distance relationship. So when I met Hannah at Calvary Bible College I thought she was a nice girl but had no intention of chasing a relationship with someone who lived in California. When the missions conference at Calvary Bible college was over and I had driven home I got a message from this nice girl I had met talking about how she had been praying for me so it just seemed natural to ask her how I could pray for her. There was no way I would ever have a long-distance relationship so nothing was going to come from just asking for prayer requests… right. I could end there and you could probably guess the rest but I won't. As you might think a few prayer requests turned into asking more about what the other person's life was like. Talking every other week turned into talking several times a week. It came to a point where I could no longer ignore where the relationship was going and so I called Hannah to address the elephant in the room. I still didn't want to have to try to keep up a long-distance relationship but I wasn't about to let a girl I liked so much to just disappear so we decided to take it slow to see how it would go. Well, things didn't really go slow. In a little while, I drove out to ask her to be my girlfriend and then I was flying out to see her family. Each step God had us in just the right place and when I thought things might be getting more serious it was no surprise to either of us when we would talk about it. I still don't like the long-distance, which you wouldn't either if you had to be far away from the one you loved, but that just made it that much easier to ask her to marry me so I can get her close to me as soon as possible. I can't wait for the day that we don't have to be planning our next visit and we can live out this life one day at a time together. With God at our side YOUR MAN! <3